A permanent reminder

by James Mirtle on Jul 23, 2009 1:43 PM CDT Comment 32 comments

I was down at the Hockey Hall of Fame a couple weeks ago, with my father in town from B.C., and spent a couple hours looking around what's become a pretty familiar place the past few years. One thing I was surprised to see was this entry on the Stanley Cup, something I hadn't noticed or heard of previously:

Imgp1477_medium

Right there at the bottom, dead centre, the lockout immortalized on the championship trophy (it reads '2004-05: Season Not Played'). It made me wonder whose decision it was to put it there and if it was the right one. Seems like an ugly mark on an otherwise beautiful thing.

A triviality I guess, but like I said, it surprised me.

Poll

Should the labour dispute be engraved on the Stanley Cup?

Yes

540 votes

No

427 votes

967 votes | Poll has closed

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Yes, if only to serve as a permanent reminder as to why it should never happen again.

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by Mr. Plank on Jul 23, 2009 1:47 PM CDT reply actions 10 recs

I agree with Fin – it should be there.

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by Cassie McClellan on Jul 23, 2009 2:29 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

100% agreed. It should go on there as a reminder of what greed and stupidity can do. To pretend it never happened would be a mistake.

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by IAmJoe on Jul 23, 2009 3:32 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Imagine they have a few more as we go… the Cup will have all sorts of patches on it. :-)

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by James Mirtle on Jul 23, 2009 5:23 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well said, mate.

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by eyebleaf on Jul 23, 2009 6:40 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

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by Doogie2K on Jul 23, 2009 6:49 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Comment thread over in one.

Well said, Plank.

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by Nael M. on Jul 23, 2009 10:40 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Wow… I voted no but I never considered your point. It is an excellent one. Don’t know if I’d change my vote (seems such an ugly scar on the Cup, like someone keying it), but I can definitely understand and get behind your sentiments.

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by stucky on Jul 24, 2009 2:03 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

The 1919 season is represented by a note saying that the series wasn’t completed, so I see nothing wrong with keeping the 2004 season a blank space as well – the Cup is a reflection of the history of the NHL, good, bad, ugly, and sick with Spanish flu.

by antonette on Jul 23, 2009 1:54 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs

I agree. I don’t like seeing the reminder, but that is because I don’t like thinking about the lockout. Just because it was a depressing time in the sport doesn’t mean it should be glossed over as though it didn’t happen, or it wasn’t all that important.

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by Baroque on Jul 23, 2009 4:08 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

The Cup predates the League; I prefer maintaining its traditions to whitewashing the NHL.

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by Back In Black on Jul 23, 2009 2:08 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I feel like the Cup represents an award given to the players of the team deemed the best in the league through their performance in both the season and the playoffs, with their names being engraved on the trophy to signify that acheivement.

Announcing that an entire season of the sport was not played, due to a dispute over how much money the parties involved were going to make, is not appropriate.

by Mobsky on Jul 23, 2009 2:14 PM CDT reply actions 10 recs

Rec’d and agreed 100%

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by Hooks Orpik on Jul 23, 2009 2:35 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

same

by ChicoMaki on Jul 23, 2009 2:38 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

me too

I still agreed with whatever house league it was that thought the champion of their league should’ve been awarded the cup that year. It’s only fitting, especially considering what the NHL has done instead. Disgraceful.

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by Karina on Jul 23, 2009 2:57 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

This is why I voted no, although now I certainly understand the yes vote as I said above.

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by stucky on Jul 24, 2009 2:05 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I still think the 1988-89 Entry should be wiped off first.

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by saskhab on Jul 23, 2009 2:54 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Like the other 24 cups aren’t enough.

by wlittle on Jul 23, 2009 3:33 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well, I only remember one of them. Besides, as Vancouver fans have told me numerous times, Otto clearly kicked it in.

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by saskhab on Jul 23, 2009 4:11 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

The 2006-2007 winner is up for removal first.

by Bosc Ulrich on Jul 23, 2009 3:36 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

No Goal

I’m thinking the good people of Western New York have some suggestions on a year to delete

by mc keeper on Jul 23, 2009 3:46 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I’d wipe both 98-99 and 05-06 off if I had the chance.

by Afino on Jul 24, 2009 9:07 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm with Mobsky on this one

by garth the hoser on Jul 23, 2009 3:24 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

I’m guessing that’s the display Cup that usually sits in the HOF. I wonder if the presentation Cup has that?

by Bosc Ulrich on Jul 23, 2009 3:52 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

They’re identical as far as I know.

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by James Mirtle on Jul 23, 2009 5:23 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don’t think they’re identical. Last time I was there I looked for some of the Jacques Plante mistakes on the display Cup and some, if not all, didn’t seem to be on it. I don’t think Peter Puck’s Dad’s name is even on it and it’s there but X’d out on the presentation Cup.

Looks like it’s probably on both, though:

http://www.hhof.com/html/newsSCbands.shtml

by Bosc Ulrich on Jul 24, 2009 7:47 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

The display Cup has all the engraving errors corrected, but I would assume something like the ‘04-’05 engraving would be the same.

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by Doogie2K on Jul 24, 2009 9:31 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Labor and social history is extremely important. It most definitely should be there, if only to serve as a reminder of stupidity.

by hallock on Jul 23, 2009 4:32 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs

Bettman can’t have his name on the cup but he left his mark…

by Mogen_david on Jul 23, 2009 6:17 PM CDT reply actions 1 recs

When I was in Toronto , the man “securing” the cup said Gary B. did not want anything on the cup regarding the lockout season. Not sure if it’s true but the guy working said that.

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by shwedy on Jul 23, 2009 7:20 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

What’s Gary Busy got to do with it.

by Mogen_david on Jul 23, 2009 9:45 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs

I don’t think it should be there. I dislike the extent to which the Stanley Cup has become the sole possession of the NHL, when it’s older than that. Announcing that there was no NHL season played should be irrelevant to the history of the Cup. Hell, I still think they should have awarded it to the winner of some league that year. My preference was to let the Canadian amateur champion have a shot at it, like in the really old days.

by J. Michael Neal on Jul 23, 2009 9:57 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs